An amazing fact: the first railway prototypes appeared in the VI century BC. It is terrible to imagine, but then the people hauled themselves the load on a designated road. The modern railway equipment similarity appeared in the UK in the XVIII-XIX centuries immediately after the steam engine invention. A century later the first trains appeared, which work principle was based on electricity usage.

An active railway tracks construction begins in Belarus in the XX century. One of the first major railroads was built along Smolensk-Brest direction. The railroad development history as well as the railway equipment appearance are of great interest not only for people fond of history, but also for ordinary passengers who prefer trains to other kinds of transport.

Thus, in May 2002 an open-air Museum of railway equipment began its functioning in Brest. It was based on the veteran of labour and honorary railwayman A. Privetelya project and initiative. The exposition placed there is directly related to the history of railway transport appearance in Belarus. During its existence, the museum's collection has been actively replenished with various equipment and devices - today it has about 170 pieces of equipment.

The museum’s area occupies a considerable territory - three hectares of land. The visitors can see here locomotives from different periods of time, ranging from pre-war to modern models, as well steam cranes, old passenger, sanitary and staff cars. There are also cars with anti-aircraft guns, a station bell and even an electric clock of 1953 year presented at the museum, which helped people of the city not to get lost in time after the war. A special pride of the museum - a steam locomotive, which was made in 1926, and the diesel train, which brought the delegation of politicians to the conference in Potsdam in Germany.

It is worth noting that old locomotives moved on completely different railroads than modern trains. That’s the reason why a special more than kilometer length way was laid on the museum’s territory, where the visitors can see how the locomotives moved at the beginning of the XX century. The Brest museum has another feature that distinguishes it from other similar ones - some of the exhibits are functioning at the moment. This factor becomes crucial when choosing a place for film making, because it is this museum which is often chosen for historic events film screening.

By the way, the visitors who want to visit the Brest Fortress often come here. The museum of railway equipment is not far from that main war memorial in Belarus. The museum staff will be happy to tell you about each exhibit presented here. This place is truly a vivid reflection of the railway equipment development in Belarus. It also attracts those who consider trains as a real work of art, who is constantly attracted by the beauty and power of this massive and huge equipment.